View full sizeMARCUS SCHNECK, The Patriot-NewsThe creator of the Appalachian Trail marker is among the second class of inductees into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame.

Emma "Grandma" Gatewood (1888-1973). After raising 11
children on farms along the Ohio River, at the age of 67 the grandmother of 23 in
1955 became the first woman to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail alone and in a
continuous hike. She hiked the AT again two years later and eventually
completed a third hike of the trail in sections.

She is known for the legendary Keds sneakers that she wore
instead of hiking boots and the laundry sack that she used instead of a
backpack.

Many call Grandma Gatewood the first thru-hiker
celebrity. She appeared on the Today
show and numerous other programs.

She inspired two distinct movements in hiking -
long-distance hiking for women and the ultra-lite movement. She carried just a few items with her, each
chosen carefully so they could perform multiple functions. Including food, water and equipment, she
rarely carried more than 20 pounds.

David A Richie (1932-2002). A man who neither sought nor
easily accepted credit for his successes, Richie "had more to do with the
reality of today's Appalachian National Scenic Trail and its management than
any other single person," according to David Startzell, longtime executive
director of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy.

A half-dozen years after Congress adopted the National
Trails System Act, which designated the AT as the first national scenic trail,
Richie successfully sought responsibility for the neglected trail when he
accepted a new job as deputy director of the agency's northeast regional office
in Boston. Eventually, he obtained
approval for a separate Appalachian Trail Project Office, to report directly to
Washington. He was largely responsible for developing the cooperative
management system used to manage the AT today.

Born in Moorestown, N.J., Richie was a graduate of Haverford
College and of George Washington University's law school. He was also a Navy
pilot and Marine captain.

J. Frank Schairer (1904-1970). The first white blazes for
the Appalachian Trail ever painted on Mount Katahdin in Maine and through much
of the rest of the wilderness were done by Schairer in the summer of 1933. A
cofounder of the Potomac Appalachian Trail Club, he helped to blaze several
hundred miles of the Appalachian Trail through what is now Shenandoah National
Park as well as the 100-mile Wilderness in Maine. He spent most of his adult
life volunteering in one capacity or another on behalf of the Appalachian
Trail, attending meetings and serving as treasurer and later supervisor of
trails for the PATC, as well as secretary of the Maine Appalachian Trail Club
and as a member of the Appalachian Trail Conference Board of Managers.

But his favorite trail-related activity was building,
blazing and maintaining the actual footpath. By profession, he was a
Yale-trained chemist who was fascinated with the composition of rocks and
minerals. This led him early on to backpacking expeditions in search of the
prizes of his profession.

Dr. Jean Stephenson (1893-1979). Her knowledge of the AT was
encyclopedic. Her role as
editor-in-chief of Appalachian Trail guidebooks and the Appalachian Trailway
News set enduring standards, and her involvement led to the trail being
completed in Maine and the entire trail being protected by the federal
government.

Stephenson came to the AT project in 1933, more than a dozen
years after arriving in Washington via Cornell University from her native Waco,
Tex., earning a doctorate in law from National University School of Law, and
settling into a position at the U.S. Department of the Navy. She worked closely with trail co-founder
Myron Avery and took up his mantle to see the trail become a reality. The
Potomac Appalachian Trail Club made her its first honorary member in 1950.

"Major" William Adams Welch (1868-1941). The Appalachian
Trail Conference and the familiar AT sign and logo can be traced to Welch, a
Kentuckian and a direct descendant of U.
S. Presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams.

He was instrumental in forming the New York-New Jersey Trail
Conference. He served as general manager
of Harriman and Bear Mountain State Parks in New York State. He was called "Major" for his service during
World War I.

In the 1920's, the club routed the first footpath section of
the AT, for which he designed a square, die-cut copper marker with the
Appalachian Trail monogram that evolved into the trail's most recognized
symbol. In 1925, park groups in which he was active were among the sponsors of
the first Appalachian Trail Conference and selected its first chairman.

"Each class of Appalachian Trail Museum Hall of Fame inductees
includes people who have made a major contribution to the Appalachian Trail, or
otherwise have advanced the cause of the Appalachian Trail. The 2012 class certainly upholds those
standards" said Larry Luxenberg, founder of the Appalachian Trail Museum and
president of the Appalachian Trail Museum Society.

In addition to the five Hall of Fame inductees, Jean Cashin
was honored for her lifetime of service to the trail and for befriending
generations of hikers. Among her many contributions, Jean started the tradition
of taking a Polaroid (now digital) photo of each A.T. thru-hiker who passed
through Harpers Ferry.

Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame inductees are honored in the
Appalachian Trail Museum, which has had about 20,000 visitors from throughout
the U.S. and 18 other countries since it opened in Pine Grove Furnace State
Park in June 2010.

Located at the midway point of the Appalachian Trail, the
museum is across from the Pine Grove General Store in Pine Grove Furnace State
Park at Gardners. The museum is open from noon to 4 p.m. daily from Memorial
Day to Labor Day and on weekends from noon to 4 p.m. in the spring and fall.